Dr Martin Warner BSc, MSc, PhD

Senior Research Fellow in Musculoskeletal Biomechanics

Dr Martin Warner is a Senior Research Fellow within the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis and Health Science, University of Southampton. Dr Warner’s research experience involves understanding the biomechanical mechanisms of joint dysfunction, specifically the upper limb and shoulder, in sport and physical activity.

Physical activity is important to remain healthy, but it’s important to exercise in the right way to prevent damage to joints.

Graduating from the University College Chichester with an undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise Science and a Master’s degree in Sports Biomechanics, Martin joined Health Science at the University of Southampton as Experimental Officer. Whilst undertaking this role Martin completed his PhD exploring the biomechanics of shoulder function through development of motion analysis methodologies and techniques for measuring scapular kinematics.

Martin subsequently undertook a role as Senior Research Fellow in Musculoskeletal Biomechanics within Health Sciences; a role that is funded by, and in association with, the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis. The aim of his work is to examine the biomechanical mechanisms that lead to the development of osteoarthritis as a result of injury through sport and physical activity. Specifically, this work involves investigating the effect of sport on the shoulders and arms of disability athletes, through to understanding hip pain and impingement in footballers. This work is undertaken using motion analysis and biomechanical modelling techniques, which also involves the development and validation of measurement protocols and biomechanical models, to understand joint movements and loading.

Research

Responsibilities

Publications

Teaching

Contact

Research interests

Understanding the mechanism between the development of osteoarthritis and sports injury through biomechanical analysis.

Shoulder and arm function in wheelchair athletes

Development of osteoarthritis in wheelchair athletes as a result of sport injury

Hip pain in football players

Development of motion analysis measurement protocols and biomechanical models; particularly the shoulder and arm.

Affiliate research group

Research project(s)

Measuring movement of the shoulder, particularly the scapula (shoulder blade), is difficult due to its gliding nature beneath the surface of the skin. This project aims to develop a suitable method to overcome these problems using a sophisticated system for analyzing movement of the body.

We have developed a system of wearable sensors that gather information about the movement of athletes so that we can then simulate what their muscles are doing, their aerodynamic drag, etc. This will allow us to optimize the athlete's technique in much the same way as an aircraft's shape is optimized.

This study aims to investigate whether there are altered biomechanics, muscle activation and movement patterns in young footballers with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) that can cause hip and groin pain. More specifically, this study aims to establish appropriate functional tests from existing clinical tests, for examining kinematics and muscle activity, to determine the feasibility of test protocols for a larger study to examine mechanisms underlying movement dysfunction. This work forms the basis for studies to develop and evaluate exercise interventions to manage and prevent FAI.